Safe Enough to Love
by TheOnlyTrueMagic
Summary: After the war, Alastor and Tonks finally find their way to each other.


**Disclaimer****: I don't own it, and I am making no money off of it. Please don't sue me.**

**AN****: This story takes place after the Final Battle by several years. It's AU and EWE. Alastor Moody did not die. Also, Tonks was never with Remus. There's a mention of another couple, Hermione/Kingsley, and I will probably write about them later. It's rated mature for language and a non-explicit, first-time lemon that includes a person with an artificial leg (do I really need to warn about that?).**

It was strange, but not in any way disagreeable, to be alive.

Alastor Moody was still tempted to doubt himself and to believe that this was all some convoluted magic spell, and he was actually lying, quite dead, on the killing field of the Final Battle.

But the Final Battle had not been nearly as much of a killing field as anyone had expected, thanks to Potter, the Longbottom boy, the defecting Malfoys, and Severus Snape. The only losses had been the Dark Lord and his loyal Death Eaters.

If Moody had believed in miracles, he would have been tempted to call it that.

However, even more unfathomable was the fact that none other than Nymphadora Tonks was walking, clearly under the influence of an anti-tripping charm, down the hall of his flat. Her smile was shy but enticing at the same time. She had clearly yielded some control to her Black blood.

Over the course of Tonk's auror training, service, and the war, Alastor had resisted his feelings for her with every bit of will he had in him. But trying to put distance between them had been useless. Every time, she had fought her way back to his side. For the last months of the war, they'd had precious few moments to sleep, but whenever they had, Tonks had found her way into his arms. He had protested, of course, to no avail since she was never awake long enough to listen to his tirades. Finally, Alastor let it be, reasoning that they were both fully clothed, and at least he could more easily protect her if she was in his bed.

Neither of them had expected to survive the war. But now, they were preparing to attend the Minister's great idea. Kingsley was calling it a ball, though seeing as how he had encouraged everyone to wear "something more casual than stuffy, formal robes" (a directive that had raised more than a few pureblood eyebrows and sent many people into muggle London for new clothes), Alastor suspected that it was intended more as a no-holds barred wild party. Kingsley knew that wizarding England was still seething with lingering tension, and giving everyone a chance to let their hair down seemed like an excellent solution. But wild parties had never been to Alastor's taste, and he would have been tempted not to attend at all.

However, he found himself with one petite, pink haired, decidedly female objection to that idea, and she was rousing interest in parts of himself that he had ruthlessly repressed into oblivion. When she'd asked him to escort her, what could he do but agree? He'd even gone so far as to let her pick his clothes for the party, and he had to admit that the black jeans and blue silk shirt made the most of what marginally acceptable looks he had.

"What do you think, Alastor?" Tonks asked, twirling around in front of him as he watched her and admitted that he was far past the point where he could look at her chastely. Tonks looked anything but chaste now, more like a siren than an angel in a sliver of silver silk that covered more than most of the other women's outfits would but left far too much of her bared to prying eyes…except his own, of course.

Merlin's balls, he had no idea what it was she saw in him. But she had given herself over to him, and he was past the point of letting her go.

He was alive. She was alive. And they were going to cross so many lines tonight.

Alastor kept Tonks close by his side as he entered the ballroom, wand drawn, watching, as always, for the enemy. Tonks giggled, and he frowned at her which did not deter her in the least. It seemed that every one of his many quirks she found endearing. He guided her over to where Kingsley stood with his wife, none other than Hermione Shacklebolt, formerly Hermione Granger. The newlyweds were watching the people arrive, and they smiled when Alastor approached with Tonks.

"Well now, I wasn't sure whether to expect you or not, Mad-Eye," Kingsley said, his eyes offering the cool auror appraisal that Alastor was familiar with. "Am I correct in my suspicion that your attendance has everything to do with the lovely lady at your side?"

Tonks blushed prettily, her hair turning a deeper shade of pink, and Alastor automatically tightened his hold on her. Kingsley grinned knowingly.

"I couldn't let him sit this one out, Minister. And I wasn't about to." Tonks spared a smile for Hermione who rested a gentle hand over her baby bump. "When are you due, Hermione?"

Hermione smiled back, and it was Kingsley's turn to tighten his arm around his companion. "It's still five months off although I admit that I'm the reason there are pickles and peanut butter on the buffet tables."

Tonks laughed, and the Shacklebolts did not miss how Alastor's head instantly swung to her. His one natural eye brimmed with such obvious affection for the young woman that the Minister and his wife excused themselves, and Tonks felt her breath catch for a moment as she saw all the things that Alastor might never be able to say.

Realizing just how much his expression was revealing, Alastor cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Well Dora, now that you have dragged me here, what do you propose we do?" He looked around bemusedly and as always suspiciously at the people around them.

She took firm hold of his arm and pulled him toward the dance floor.

"This is a dance, and we are going to dance," Tonks declared.

"Dance?" Alastor said. "Dora, you cannot be serious. How do you expect me to dance?"

Tonks smirked, an expression that served to remind him that she was undeniably a Black. And it was her mother's Black blood that held sway now as she sashayed up to him, took his rough, scarred hands, and placed them at her waist.

"I didn't cast that anti-tripping charm just to spend the night being a wallflower." She reached up, tracing silver painted fingernails over the scars on his face before smoothing back his soft grey hair. She brushed her fingertips over his lips and sucked in a breath as he flicked his tongue against her skin, waking a hunger in her belly that nothing on the buffet tables could assuage. But she knew what could, and she suspected that he did too.

"Come on, Alastor. Let's dance."

Alastor found that he could do nothing but follow her.

Charms aside, Tonks' innate clumsiness and Alastor's wooden leg made true dancing difficult, but they eventually managed a rhythm that worked to keep them both on their feet. The music was fast and loud, and the lights were dim which provided a cover for everything else taking place on the dance floor. It wasn't only the young men and woman who were taking advantage of it, and Alastor raised an eyebrow at some of the couples and their activities.

"They're really getting it on, aren't they?" Tonks said.

He smiled at her slang. She was from a different generation than he was, and the language she used never ceased to amuse him.

"You could say that." He paused, eyeing her curiously. "Do you have a problem with it?" Andromeda, despite being married to a muggle, still retained her pureblood prudishness, but he had always thought that Tonks was decidedly open-minded.

"Of course not!" Tonks laughed. Then he was drawing in a breath as she shifted into his embrace, wrapping her arms around him in a way that molded her to his body and made his interest obvious.

"Actually, Alastor, I'm jealous," she admitted, lowering her lashes as she shifted against him in a way that made him bite back a moan. "Can we get some too?"

The elder auror ran a hand through her pink hair, tilting her chin up toward him.

"Some what, Dora? Tell me what you want." They'd gotten this far, but he was still capable of being a gentleman, at least this much of one. He wasn't about to force her into anything she would regret later.

She took a breath and then, holding his eyes, said without shame, "I want to know what I've been missing…everything I've been missing."

Alastor had thought himself incapable of being surprised, but as the meaning of her words hit him, he found himself shocked.

"Dora…you're untouched?" It was rare that he retreated into the painfully proper speech of his childhood instruction, but his surprise had startled him into it.

She smiled a little at him. "I'm a virgin, yes."

He stumbled over his words. "But…how? You're beautiful, intelligent, and funny. You should have your pick of young lads."

Tonks' blushed. "I'm happy you think so. But really Alastor, when did I ever have time? And besides, I didn't want a boy. I wanted a man." She licked her lips, and Alastor strangled another moan. "But I've got time now. And we're alive and here together. And I know that you know what I don't." She looked him straight in the eye then, and in that moment, she was all Black. "I want you, and I want you now."

He swallowed hard, but she did not flinch away from his steady regard. Protective instincts warred with paranoia as he wrapped her in his arms, nearly lifting her off her feet as he caught her lips in a kiss.

She had been kissed before, but Tonks had never imagined a kiss could be like this. Alastor's strength surrounded her, his lips gentle and yet just as strong as they claimed hers. His tongue darted out from between his teeth, looking for an invitation which she readily granted. The kiss deepened, and Tonks shifted, ready to wrap her legs around him.

Alastor stopped her with a touch. "Not here, Dora. It's not safe. I'll take you to my flat. It's protected." He cupped her face, staring into her eyes. "I need you safe first. We need to be safe."

Dora smiled though she only reluctantly untangled herself enough so they could leave. Multiple apparitions later, they were standing in Alastor's flat. Tonks watched with mounting restlessness as the elder auror cast layer after layer of protective spells. Finally, Tonks gently reached up and placed a hand on Alastor's wand arm.

"Enough, Alastor. We're safe. You've made sure that we're safe." She paused, trailing fingers down his scarred face. "Take me to bed."

She hardly had a chance to take a breath before she was in his arms, carried up the stairs by a man who was anything but a handsome knight in shining armor. But she wouldn't have traded the scars for Malfoyish pureblood beauty. He would keep her safe. He wanted to keep her safe, and she wanted to be safe. He wanted her. She wanted to be safe and wanted, and with him, she got everything. It was enough.

Alastor laid her down carefully on his bed and looked at her as though he wasn't yet convinced she wasn't going to disappear. Tonks smiled and stretched, making sure that Alastor realized just how little she was wearing under the dress. He watched in silence as she discarded her heels and then slowly, teasingly, pulled the dress over her head. His face was immobile, but the sudden tightening of his black jeans told her everything she needed to know about whether he found her attractive.

Nude and a little self-conscious, Tonks whispered, "You're wearing too many clothes."

It suddenly seemed to dawn on him that he was still fully dressed, and he disrobed as quickly as his physical condition would let him. He looked over at her as he prepared to remove his jeans, and Tonks kissed away the hint of self-consciousness in his expression.

"My leg…it does not bother you?" Alastor asked quietly.

Tonks laughed. "It's part of you, Alastor. Why would it bother me?" When he still hesitated, she took matters into her own hands, reaching out to unbutton his jeans and pull them down. He wore nothing beneath, and she touched his artificial leg gently.

"Are you more comfortable without it?" Tonks asked, to which he could only nod. "Then take it off."

It was an oddly intimate moment, more so than simply stripping clothes, as Tonks watched Alastor cancel the charms on his leg and set it aside. The skin on the stump beneath was smooth under her hands, but Alastor hissed as she caressed it.  
>"Does it hurt?" she asked, stilling her hands. But when he covered her hands with his, holding them there, she realized it wasn't pain he was feeling.<p>

"It is…extremely sensitive, Dora. If you keep doing that though, I'm not going to last long enough to give you what you deserve." He gently moved her hands away and then shifted her onto her back. Tonks willed her tense muscles to relax.

Still, he hesitated. "This is going to hurt, Dora. I'll do what I can to make it easier but…"

She silenced him with a finger against his lips. "It's alright. I trust you, Alastor." She settled back further into the pillows, licking her lips and rousing possessiveness in Alastor that would never be fully tamed.

Tonks whispered, "Just love me."

Alastor said nothing. But that night he showed her everything he couldn't say.

They were safe. They were wanted.

They were safe enough to love.


End file.
